Hezekiah's Prayer and Healing

2 Kings 20:1 (ESV) In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’ ”

The life of Hezekiah is one many Christians can relate to. He had his moments of great faith and trust in the Lord, but he also had moments of pride and selfishness. At this moment, he's on the verge of death. Now in this weakened state the prophet Isaiah comes along with the worst news possible. He's going to die. Consider being in Hezekiah's shoes. You're weak and ill and the only word you get from the prophet is impending death. Yikes. 

What would you do if God's servant told you you were going to die?

I imagine many of us would resign ourselves to God's diagnosis. After all, it is God's decision, and who can change it? I think we'd suppose He has reasons and that we perhaps deserved it and there's no changing God's mind. 

Thankfully this story is in the Bible for us to reconsider these thoughts.

2 Kings 20:2–3 (ESV) Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, 3 “Now, O LORD, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Hezekiah doesn't resign himself to inevitable death. He prays earnestly! The results are quick and wonderful. God's Word comes to Isaiah again:

2 Kings 20:5 (ESV) “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD,

This passage is in the Bible to challenge our often assumed understanding of prayer: that prayer cannot change what God has in mind to do. Please understand God was sending word that Hezekiah was going to die and now after prayer, God sends the opposite word. 

I wonder what things you have heard or expected in your life that you assume rightly or wrongly is the will of the Lord concerning you and so you resigned yourself to NOT pray. What could prayer change for you? Hezekiah was not a perfect person. Remember he paid tribute to Judah's enemy Assyria instead of trusting in the Lord. Yet the Lord heard him and healed him.

Isaiah 38 gives us a record of Hezekiah's prayer at this moment. In that chapter, we get a glimpse into his emotions and his heart. In verses 16 to 17, he places his faith in God and then utters a phrase that should inform our hearts when handling hardship.

Isaiah 38:16–17 (ESV) O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh restore me to health and make me live! 17 Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

Hezekiah came to realize God had a purpose in bringing him to the point of death. There were heart issues and sins that had to be dealt with. Now you may chide at this but you must remember that sin's fruit is always poisonous and dangerous. Whenever God roots it out, we are better off in the long run. 

Finally, we need to see Jesus in this moment. Instead of being brought close to death, Jesus experienced death. Instead of only recovering from illness, Jesus recovered from death. And like Hezekiah, Jesus rose on the third day and entered the throne of heaven with His perfect offering to God for our sins so that we all might be fully and spiritually healed.